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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · game · hand · fall · pass · track · fork · bat

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. last — finally
  3. fork — in a road
  4. game — a match
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. track — a song
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. track — a path
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. hand — help
  14. fall — to drop
  15. hand — in cards
  16. track — to keep track
  17. last — final
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. last — to go on
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. bat — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com